TaylorMade M3/M4 Discussion

[klineka]

10 hours ago, Gunsmoke said:

Club manufactures are making sticks that are forgiving on sweet spots and now this. I don't like the way equipment is heading. If you want to strike the ball so it goes down the middle. GO PRACTICE

Nobody is forcing you to buy new equipment or to even pay attention to the new marketing claims.

[lastings]

On 1/27/2018 at 10:33 PM, Gunsmoke said:

Club manufactures are making sticks that are forgiving on sweet spots and now this. I don't like the way equipment is heading. If you want to strike the ball so it goes down the middle. GO PRACTICE

 

 

Golf is hard.  Practice is still necessary.   A little help is nice here and there.   

as a heads up, there are free Taylor Made fittings going on all over the place.   

I signed up for one, just to hit the M3/M4.   I doubt I'll be making a purchase, but it'll be fun to check out what the hype is about..   

 

https://my.taylormadegolf.com/myFittingExp/#/events

[lastings]

On 1/29/2018 at 3:54 PM, lastings said:

Golf is hard.  Practice is still necessary.   A little help is nice here and there.   

as a heads up, there are free Taylor Made fittings going on all over the place.   

I signed up for one, just to hit the M3/M4.   I doubt I'll be making a purchase, but it'll be fun to check out what the hype is about..   

 

https://my.taylormadegolf.com/myFittingExp/#/events

So, I had this fitting today.  

Comparing with my Titleist 915 D2. 

I hit the m3 and m4.  It became evident relatively quickly that I was hitting the M3 better.  Not sure if there is any reason for that.  But the fitting was only 30 min, so we spent most of the time with that club and just tinkered with head settings and different shafts. 

This driver is is a beast.   I was consistently getting at least 5 extra yards on my shots.  Longest drive of the day was the Taylor Made topping out at 276.  In 15 swings the longest I had with my Titleist was 267.  I felt like I hit that one right on the nuts.  Confident enough in that strike to say I’m sure the Taylor made is longer.  

Once we got to the right shaft, (which for me was a stiff Fukijara atmos), dispersion was really tight too.  

As far as the “twist face” goes, I’m not sure I noticed a difference.  There was one shot that I caught off the toe and felt like it was gonna hook pretty hard, but ended up curving less than expected.  I’m not really a good enough golfer to know if that was the face or if I just misjudged my expectation of the shot.  

I really left the fitting with 2 thoughts.  Maybe @iacas or some other knowledgeable mind could help me out. 

1) the dispersion improvements weren’t really evident until I tried the correct shaft.  There is a distinct possibility that I could just put that shaft on my Titleist and achieve the same results.  Not sure. 

2) the M3 is definitely longer than my driver.  On center hits and off center hits.  But that makes me wonder. Do Drivers lose some “pop” over time?  I feel like there is a possibility that my Titleist was just as long as the M3 off the rack, but it’s 3 seasons old now and just doesn’t have the same umph.    If this is the case, I could probably buy a brand new M2 or GBB epic with that fukijara shaft and achieve the same results at a much cheaper cost.

Your thoughts?  

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, lastings said:

1) the dispersion improvements weren’t really evident until I tried the correct shaft.  There is a distinct possibility that I could just put that shaft on my Titleist and achieve the same results.  Not sure.

Why didn't you try that?

Different shafts will behave a little differently in different heads. Not a ton.

6 minutes ago, lastings said:

2) Do Drivers lose some “pop” over time?  I feel like there is a possibility that my Titleist was just as long as the M3 off the rack, but it’s 3 seasons old now and just doesn’t have the same umph.    If this is the case, I could probably buy a brand new M2 or GBB epic with that fukijara shaft and achieve the same results at a much cheaper cost.

No. If anything, as the face wears/thins, they get a little hotter. That's why "driver shaving" is a thing.

[lastings]

3 minutes ago, iacas said:

Why didn't you try that?

Didn’t think about it until I was typing this post.

 

4 minutes ago, iacas said:

No. If anything, as the face wears/thins, they get a little hotter. That's why "driver shaving" is a thing.

Interesting. Kinda feels like I’m gonna be $500 poorer going into this golf season. 

[iacas]

8 minutes ago, lastings said:

Didn’t think about it until I was typing this post.

Fair enough?

Maybe you can go back and try that out.

[lastings]

48 minutes ago, iacas said:

Fair enough?

Maybe you can go back and try that out.

Could...   but now that I know the extra yards are on the table I want them.   I assume it’s not the shaft giving me the yards..   stupid TaylorMade and their stupid marketing.  Taking advantage of the impulsive mediocre golfers like clockwork. 

grilled cheese is delicious until you have one with bacon.  After you’ve tasted it with bacon a regular grilled cheese is pointless.  

All that said, if I’m resigned to spend the cash, maybe I give the rogue a shot with that shaft. 

Edited February 17, 2018 by lastings

[billchao]

4 hours ago, lastings said:

I assume it’s not the shaft giving me the yards.

It actually could be. It's not like the 915 is super old tech.

If the new shaft is significantly different than your current shaft, that may suggest your current shaft is a bad fit for your swing, so it stands to reason that you could see some distance and dispersion gains.

[klineka]

Why dont you just get the shaft you got the best results with and try that in your current titleist, then if it doesnt give you what you want then just buy the Taylormade head only and match that up with the shaft.

[nevets88]

I'm pretty late getting hands on but out of curiosity, took a look at it and really tried to see/feel the twist. You do feel a bit more curvature going to the toe and a little flatter around the heel. Or maybe it's psychosomatic.

Tried to video the head in high speed twisting it side to side to see if it could show that but no. Anyways, curiosity sated, will just wait and see what opinions and data mainstream adaptation brings. 

[bharp77]

Bought the M4 after 2 fittings and then picked up an M3 on ebay for 315 over the weekend.  I have to say I am torn between which one will be my gamer this year.   I don't think I've hit a driver thats as straight or as consistent as the M4 the way its set up.  I haven't been able to hit it as far as I was able to hit my Nike Vapor Flex but the difference seems to be one awesome drive and 10 bad drives with the Vapor or 10 straight 300 yard drives consistently.   Today was my first day with the M3 but I haven't quite got it set up yet.  If I can get that one in the air a bit more the M4 will most likely move to the backup.  I will say the M3 feels better and seems to continuously give me better ball speed, but once I get the launch angle up I can see it giving me the distance I was missing from the M4 and a lot more consistency than my Nike.

[boogielicious]

17 hours ago, bharp77 said:

Bought the M4 after 2 fittings and then picked up an M3 on ebay for 315 over the weekend.  I have to say I am torn between which one will be my gamer this year.   I don't think I've hit a driver thats as straight or as consistent as the M4 the way its set up.  I haven't been able to hit it as far as I was able to hit my Nike Vapor Flex but the difference seems to be one awesome drive and 10 bad drives with the Vapor or 10 straight 300 yard drives consistently.   Today was my first day with the M3 but I haven't quite got it set up yet.  If I can get that one in the air a bit more the M4 will most likely move to the backup.  I will say the M3 feels better and seems to continuously give me better ball speed, but once I get the launch angle up I can see it giving me the distance I was missing from the M4 and a lot more consistency than my Nike.

Welcome to The Sand Trap. Thanks for posting.

[lastings]

oh boy...    

So, I asked my PGA pro if he could do a fitting to test some things out.   I told him I found some success with the M3 and the Atmos shaft.   He had his Taylor Made rep bring a handful of shafts and an M3 head.   

First we took some swings with my club, then added swings with my club and the Atmos shaft.   My Driver had a swing speed between 98-101, bally carrying 230-240, rolling out as high as 264.   Dispersion a bit wild.   
We have done plenty of work with my Driver.   This was standard.   I'll leave spin and launch out of this post, just because, while I saw changes in these things with different shafts/heads, the important thing in the end is where the ball goes.    (also, I saw spin & launch charges by altering driver settings too, if I get into all of that, this post will go on forever.    just note: we found shafts/setting that optimized this.  If you have any questions just ask).  

To Note I have a Diamana shaft on mine, 77g, mid tip.   

The Atmos is a 55g shaft, mid tip.   

With the Atmos on my Driver, I saw an immediate improvement in swing speed.   Speeds now as high as 104.   had some balls carry 247 and roll to 268.   Nice!  Minimal improvement in dispersion.   when I would leave the face open, I didn't see as significant of right spin, for whatever thats worth.

Then we we put the Atmos shaft in the M3 Head.   game changer.   strangely, saw another mph or 2 in swing speed.   topping out now at 106, but nearly every swing was at 104.  additionally saw both distance and dispersion gains.   got a couple to roll out to 279!    yes.   you read that right.   my driver + my shaft = 264.   New Driver + New Shaft = 279.   with much tighter dispersion.   15 yards!   FIFTEEN!    but, we ain't done yet.  

(It was in that round that we tinkered with head settings and found that putting both weights all the way back and standard loft was the best combo for me.   we kept it like that the rest of the time.)

We then tried some other shafts, and it was the next one we tried that ended up being the best.   The was the Fukijara Pro 53.    55g as well, but soft tip.   
This one felt a bit more whippy, but was not creating open face or pushes to the right.   This shaft, for whatever reason created more of a draw bias in my swings.   (and it wasn't just the swings, we went back to other shaft and came back to this one).   other shafts, while having nice tight dispersion, were slight draw, straight, slight draw, slight fade, etc..     This one was draw, draw, draw, draw.   extremely predictable.   And, for whatever reason, I was pushing this one a bit further to the right and drawing just a bit harder to the middle.   

Whether this was the confidence I had in the predictable ball flight, or he whippyness of the shaft or combination of both, I was getting even higher swing speeds with this one.  every swing between 105-107, repeatedly rolling out to 275 at the lowest and, get this, up to 286!    not just one ball at 286, but 4 of the next 10 shots were 283 or higher.   

Moral of the story, GET FIT FOR DRIVERS!   People are joking when they say it could add up to 20 yards.   

I'm so excited. 

 

 

 

 

 

[lastings]

On 2/28/2018 at 5:05 PM, lastings said:

oh boy...    

So, I asked my PGA pro if he could do a fitting to test some things out.   I told him I found some success with the M3 and the Atmos shaft.   He had his Taylor Made rep bring a handful of shafts and an M3 head.   

First we took some swings with my club, then added swings with my club and the Atmos shaft.   My Driver had a swing speed between 98-101, bally carrying 230-240, rolling out as high as 264.   Dispersion a bit wild.   
We have done plenty of work with my Driver.   This was standard.   I'll leave spin and launch out of this post, just because, while I saw changes in these things with different shafts/heads, the important thing in the end is where the ball goes.    (also, I saw spin & launch charges by altering driver settings too, if I get into all of that, this post will go on forever.    just note: we found shafts/setting that optimized this.  If you have any questions just ask).  

To Note I have a Diamana shaft on mine, 77g, mid tip.   

The Atmos is a 55g shaft, mid tip.   

With the Atmos on my Driver, I saw an immediate improvement in swing speed.   Speeds now as high as 104.   had some balls carry 247 and roll to 268.   Nice!  Minimal improvement in dispersion.   when I would leave the face open, I didn't see as significant of right spin, for whatever thats worth.

Then we we put the Atmos shaft in the M3 Head.   game changer.   strangely, saw another mph or 2 in swing speed.   topping out now at 106, but nearly every swing was at 104.  additionally saw both distance and dispersion gains.   got a couple to roll out to 279!    yes.   you read that right.   my driver + my shaft = 264.   New Driver + New Shaft = 279.   with much tighter dispersion.   15 yards!   FIFTEEN!    but, we ain't done yet.  

(It was in that round that we tinkered with head settings and found that putting both weights all the way back and standard loft was the best combo for me.   we kept it like that the rest of the time.)

We then tried some other shafts, and it was the next one we tried that ended up being the best.   The was the Fukijara Pro 53.    55g as well, but soft tip.   
This one felt a bit more whippy, but was not creating open face or pushes to the right.   This shaft, for whatever reason created more of a draw bias in my swings.   (and it wasn't just the swings, we went back to other shaft and came back to this one).   other shafts, while having nice tight dispersion, were slight draw, straight, slight draw, slight fade, etc..     This one was draw, draw, draw, draw.   extremely predictable.   And, for whatever reason, I was pushing this one a bit further to the right and drawing just a bit harder to the middle.   

Whether this was the confidence I had in the predictable ball flight, or he whippyness of the shaft or combination of both, I was getting even higher swing speeds with this one.  every swing between 105-107, repeatedly rolling out to 275 at the lowest and, get this, up to 286!    not just one ball at 286, but 4 of the next 10 shots were 283 or higher.   

Moral of the story, GET FIT FOR DRIVERS!   People are joking when they say it could add up to 20 yards.   

I'm so excited. 

 

Well, I'm finally outside up here in Minnesota, and I gotta say, the proof is in the pudding.   I got 9 holes in on Sunday at a course I frequently play.   I played more than 1 approach shot from places I have never played before.  

Arccos confirmed what I already knew, though..   

I'm confident, I didn't have a drive - on the course - last year over 260.   maybe I got up to 270 on the range.  

As a matter of fact, I only had 1 round with the Arccos with my old driver, and I topped out at 260 that day. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2018 by lastings

[rehmwa]

5 hours ago, lastings said:

 

I

Just wondering which course that is.  (I've played both the Emerald Greens courses (Hastings), Southern Hills (Farmington), Kilkarney (Hudson, WI), Shadowbrook (Lester Prairie), and The Summit (Cannon Falls) in the last 8 days)

I tried the M4 in my fitting and hit it fine.  But with their selling strategy, I was reluctant to consider it unless we tracked face contact patterns which wasn't offered - and I hit the EpicSZ better anyway.  Prior to my fitting a golfer from the UofM women's team was getting data and her face map was on the monitor and her contact pattern actually was distinctly low heel to high toe, though.....

[lastings]

1 hour ago, rehmwa said:

Just wondering which course that is. 

Bluff Creek in Eden Prairie..   

[rehmwa]

17 hours ago, lastings said:

Bluff Creek in Eden Prairie..   

Chaska - yep, it's on the list.  Wife's very first birdie was there on that very hole #10 I think - the short par 5.  they jacked up the prices a couple years ago.

[lastings]

39 minutes ago, rehmwa said:

Chaska - yep, it's on the list.  Wife's very first birdie was there on that very hole #10 I think - the short par 5.  they jacked up the prices a couple years ago.

rates there actually aren't that bad, if you walk.   $32-$36 (weekday/weekend).   Its $17 cart fee where they get ya.